CHAKWAL: Amidst the height of electioneering, the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) fears more ‘abductions’ and ‘disappearances’ of its potential workers.

“We have come to know that a vicious plan of abducting our polling agents has been hatched,” the general secretary of PTI in tehsil Chakwal, Advocate Syed Najamul Hassan Kazmi who is also the vice president of Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) said while talking to Dawn on Tuesday.

“Polling agent is vital for any political party on the day of election as results of any polling station are compiled and announced in the presence of a polling agent who is also given the Form 45 which contains the results,” Mr Kazmi said.

“Party’s potential men in the villages who had served as chairmen of the union councils in the past have been given notices by the Anti Corruption Establishment in which they have been accused of misusing funds while they were in office,” PTI’s district General Secretary Advocate Chaudhry Tallat Mehmood said.

He said that PTI leaders in the villages were being directed to refrain from political activities.

PTI’s office bearers maintained that more than a dozen of party workers were picked up on Friday night. Some of them were released while whereabouts of three others are still not known.

“They are picking our potential workers who are spearheading electioneering in their respective union councils and villages.

Malik Waseem Karamat from Dohman and Malik Munawar Ahmed from Mogla were abducted. Mr Karamat was released on Tuesday while we still do not know the whereabouts of Malik Munawar,” Mr Kazmi said. He added that a petition for recovery of Malik Munawar was filed before the District and Session Court and the court appointed a bailiff.

“The bailiff visited Dohman Police Station but could not find Malik Munawar and police expressed their ignorance about him,” he said and added that they had CCTV videos which showed the abduction of Malik Munawar. When contacted, SHO Malik Tanveer Aslam denied the charge of picking up Waseem Karamat and Malik Munawar.

“Both were not picked up at all. They are just levelling false allegations on police”, he maintained.

On the other hand candidates of all three leading parties, PTI, PML N and PPP are holding hectic campaigns. On Tuesday PTI’s candidate in NA 58 Ayaz Amir and Raja Tariq Afzal at PP 21 attended three charged corner meetings, one in Maghal, second in Dandot and third in Dalwal in tehsil Choa Saidan Shah.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2024